PM-KISAN Scheme extension to include all eligible farmer families irrespective of the size of land holdings
Syllabus: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre & Agriculture
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved that the ambit of the Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) would be comprehensively extended. With this decision, all land holding eligible farmer families (subject to the prevalent exclusion criteria) would avail of the benefits under this scheme. The cabinet approved a pension scheme of Rs 3,000 per month that will benefit five crore farmers. Under the voluntary and contributory pension scheme, small and marginal farmers will have to pay a fixed amount with the government making a matching contribution.
Significance of the revised scheme
- Coverage: The revised Scheme is expected to cover around 2 crore more farmers, increasing the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries.
- Enhanced Speed: Under the revised scheme certain operational issues like lack of updated land records in Jharkhand and lack of Aadhaar penetration in states of Assam, Meghalaya and J&K have also been resolved.
About PM-KISAN:
- The key element of PM-KISAN is income support of Rs. 6000/- to the small and marginal landholder farmer families with cultivable land holding upto 2 hectare across the country. (This has been expanded in this revised scheme)
- Under the scheme the amount is being released in three 4-monthly instalments of Rs.2000/- each over the year, to be credited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries held in destination banks through Direct Benefit Transfer mode.
- This scheme is being funded by the Government of India.
